Jim Simpson no longer CEO of fleet operator ABS

WASHINGTON — Jim Simpson, chief executive of Bermuda-based fleet operator ABS since December, is no longer head of the company.

Simpson succeeded Tom Choi, who co-founded ABS in 2005. Simpson left ABS this month, according to this profile on the professional networking site LinkedIn. He declined to state the reason for his departure when asked by SpaceNews.

“Many executives have departed and resigned from ABS including just recently the head of sales, Raymond Chow,” the official said. The reason for the departures is unclear, the official said.

ABS operates a fleet of six geostationary satellites, of which Simpson participated in the procurement of the latest two, ABS-2A and ABS-3A, during his previous 35-year career at Boeing.

Speaking at the CASBAA Satellite Industry Forum in Singapore in June, Simpson said about 50 percent of the capacity on the two all-electric satellites is in use. The satellites launched in 2015 and 2016, each paired with a Boeing-built satellite for Eutelsat in two rare dual launches of SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets.

Simpson said ABS was creating “tiering levels” of differentiated capacity with prices that reflected differences in quality as a way to fill its satellites with customers.